Our research activitiesare positioned at the interface of supramolecular chemistry, dynamic covalent chemistry and the synthesis of functional materials. One central goal of our group is to study complex chemical networks at equilibrium and beyond (systems chemistry). We are also active in the field of functional organic materials and synthetic carbon allotropes, where we seek to apply the synthesized compounds in new-generation solar cells and photocatalysis.

Coworkersin the Delius group will be trained in all aspects of synthetic organic chemistry (synthesis, purification, literature research), supramolecular chemistry (screenings, titrations, crystallisation), as well as analytical chemistry (NMR, MS, HPLC, LCMS, GC). Our research on systems chemistry will contribute to a better understanding of highly complex systems in nature and we are working towards practical applications in molecular sensing and organic electronics.

News

11/02/2019:

For our ERC project "SUPRANET" we are looking for one PhD student and one postdoc, ideally starting this July. Join our enthusiastic group and carry out great science in a beautiful city! Please apply online (deadline March 15 2019) via these links (PhD, postdoc).

Max von Delius has received the prestigious Hoechst Dozentenpreis in Düsseldorf in the presence of the who's who of German chemistry (academia and industry)! To acknowledge the creativity and hard work by past and present team members, they will get a share of the prize (ski trip to Austria in March 2019).

25/10/2018:

We inaugurated an amazing piece of art tonight in Ulm: a giant, fluorescing Erlenmeyer flask! Perfect outreach for our transregional SFB CataLight. Check out the pictures at SWP and Uni Ulm.

November 2018: Stupp and coworkers found a supramolecular sweet spot (strong enough, yet not too strong) in their DNA-peptide fibrous superstructures that are still dynamic after self-assembly.

October 2018: we are just as excited as Derek Lowe about two papers (Pantelic, Gonen) demonstrating that electron diffraction ("micro-ED") can be used to elucidate the structure of small molecules, circumventing the need to grow sizable single crystals.

September 2018: we were equally surprised and excited to see a paper on the fight against "Inter-Galactic Parasites" based on a tool called "MORTY", authored by Beth Smith at the Sanchez Institute.

August 2018: an impressive coupling of photodynamic and dynamic covalent equilibria was achieved by Stefan Hecht and coworkers in their "light-driven Dean-Stark".